This invention relates to golf clubs in general, and more specifically to a handle grip means which is particularly well-suited to be adapted to a golf putter, to provide new functional capabilities to the putter.
The game of golf is a lifetime sport that can be enjoyed by both genders. Besides socialization, it confers the health benefits of aerobic activity, flexibility, and hand-eye coordination. In the United States, an estimated 26.5 million people exercise by playing golf for health and enjoyment. Many attempt to improve their game by improving the quality of the clubs with which they play to influence the precision of their play. Most increases in the precision of a golfer""s play, particularly in the critical alignment processes, usually result in an observable advantage in play, and an improvement over the prior art which affords a competitive benefit to golfers in a general sense and represents an advance in the state of the art of the game.
Golf putters generally comprise a shaft having a first end portion comprising the gripping end, a second end portion comprising the striking end, a head on the striking end of the shaft, and a grip sheath disposed over the gripping end of the shaft. The head has a connector that accepts the shaft and connects the head to the shaft. On the head, distal in relation to the shaft, is a toe end. Also on the head is a heel end that is proximal in relation to the shaft. There is a club face which resides between the heel and toe, which face portion is intended to be that portion of the club which strikes the ball, which is sometimes referred to as the xe2x80x9cstriking facexe2x80x9d by those skilled in the art.
Putting is a major and critical part of the game of golf. On each hole of a golf course, two putts on the green are allocated to par. For example, on an 1 Whole course with par of 72 strokes, 36 strokes represent putts. Most low-handicap golfers are able to take fewer than 36 putts per round, making up for greens missed in regulation. Most high-handicap golfers take more than 36 putts.
Improvement of the putting method is the easiest way for most players to improve their score because the putter is the easiest golf club for most players to manipulate. A putt entails rolling the ball toward the hole, often with only a gentle tap of the putter blade, rather than launching the ball into the air with a striking blow.
There is no universal agreement among golf professionals on a preferred putting method or style. Most instructors stress that the putting stroke must be a smooth, fluid, and un-interrupted pendulum motion. Four decades ago, many Professional Golf Association (PGA) professionals putted with varying degrees of wrist movement, some using the wrists as the primary force behind the putt. Today it is generally accepted that the stroke should entail movement with only the arms and shoulders, with no body movement, and that the wrists should remain in a locked position, except perhaps for exceptionally long putts.
Many styles and methods of putting are popular today. The most popular method uses a traditional length putter (33xe2x80x3 to 35xe2x80x3) with the hands placed on the grip, left hand above the right hand (for a right-handed golfer), and fingers overlapping or interlocking. The back is bent so that the eyes are above the ball and the arms hang naturally. Some instructors stress that the putting motion should utilize the natural arc from the player""s body, requiring a slight opening of the club face on the back-swing and closing of the club face on the follow-through. Others teach a straight-line movement through the ball, maintaining the position of the club face square to the target during the entire swing.
A persistent challenge of putting is to prevent the hands from turning or rotating the putter during either the back stroke or down stroke, causing the ball to veer from its intended path. To achieve greater control of the club-head and to prevent rotation, some golfers place the left hand below the right hand on the putter grip (e.g. PGA professional Bob May). Others use the xe2x80x9cclawxe2x80x9d grip (e.g. PGA professional Chris DiMarco), grasping the club with the left hand in the traditional way, but separating the right hand and clutching the club below the left hand between the thumb and forefinger. Others have turned to the xe2x80x9clong putter,xe2x80x9d (e.g. PGA professional Vijay Singh) which has an upper and a lower grip attached. The club is anchored against the player""s chest with the left hand on the upper grip, the right hand grasping the club on the lower grip between the thumb and forefinger. Still others use the xe2x80x9cbelly putter,xe2x80x9d (e.g. PGA professional Fred Couples) which is just long enough to anchor against the player""s stomach. The hands grasp the club in the traditional way. All of these methods strive to achieve restricted hand and wrist movement so that the putter face remains in the identical position at impact as during alignment.
Another challenge of putting for many golfers is known as the xe2x80x9cyips.xe2x80x9d The xe2x80x9cyipsxe2x80x9d is manifested by severe involuntary movement of the lower arms, hands and/or wrists causing the ball to veer wildly offline or to zoom well past the hole. The xe2x80x9cyipsxe2x80x9d has been defined by a multidisciplinary team at the Mayo Clinic as a psycho-neuromuscular impediment to executing the putting stroke. It is a poorly understood problem that resembles a focal dystonia (episodic twitching and jerking). Symptoms can worsen under conditions of anxiety and stress. (xe2x80x9cThe xe2x80x98Yipsxe2x80x99: A Biomedical Investigation of a Common Problem in Golf,xe2x80x9d www.mayo.edu/research/yips/topicxe2x80x94475.html). Many famous golfers such as Ben Hogan, Tommy Armour, Sam Snead, and Berhard Langer have suffered from the xe2x80x9cyips,xe2x80x9d greatly altering their ability to putt and to play the game.
There is no known cure for the xe2x80x9cyips.xe2x80x9d The Mayo Clinic began studying the xe2x80x9cyipsxe2x80x9d in 1998 in order to offer meaningful relief, but its research has not yet been concluded. According to the Mayo team, the xe2x80x9cyipsxe2x80x9d adds an average of five strokes to the score of afflicted players, and typically affects low-handicap, loyal golfers who form the competitive and financial backbone of the game. In a Mayo Clinic survey of 2,600 golfers with a 12-and-under handicap, 53 percent of respondents reported experiencing the xe2x80x9cyips.xe2x80x9d The Mayo team suggests that temporary relief may be possible with modifications such as changing one""s grip or putter length, using psychological skill strategies, medications or alcoholxe2x80x94but symptoms usually reappear.
A putting method, and a putter grip to accommodate that method, that enhances a golfer""s ability make a smooth, steady, and consistent stroke and to retard or inhibit movement of the hands and wrists, resulting in improved control of the putter-head and the ability to send the ball on the desired path, is a technological breakthrough. The present invention represents a radical departure from the prior art by providing a grip for a putter that is designed to be grasped by the user in a way heretofore unknown in the art, resulting in greater stability and precision in putting the ball.
While all known putting methods, and accommodating grips, rely on the player gripping the club with the fingers and placing the hands on the club above and below one another vertically, the present invention employs a symmetrical positioning of the palms on opposing sides of the club in identical vertical positions. This symmetry of the hands allows the player to employ a press on the club, emanating from the pectoral muscles, with each arm, wrist and hand counterbalancing the force exerted by the opposite member. This counter-balancing force inhibits the ability of each arm, hand and wrist to move involuntarily and may provide relief from the twitching and jerking symptomatic of the xe2x80x9cyips.xe2x80x9d A grip according to the invention is affixed to any existing putter by simply sliding the grip over the shaft and attaching in the traditional manner.
The present invention provides a putter grip having a distal end, a proximal end, and a length dimension, and comprises a main grip portion having a first end portion and a second end portion, wherein the first end portion of the main grip portion coincides substantially with the proximal end of the grip. There is a tapered grip portion having a first end portion and a second end portion, wherein the first end portion of the tapered grip portion coincides substantially with the distal end of the grip. The second end portion of the main grip portion is attached to the second end portion of the tapered grip portion. There is a bore disposed through the grip, having an open end which comprises a hole at the distal end of the grip. The contour of the cross section of the main grip portion comprises a u-shaped contour having a first end and a second end, and an arcuate contour having a first end and a second end. The first end of the arcuate contour intersects the first end of the u-shaped contour, and the second end of the arcuate contour intersects the second end of the u-shaped contour. The main grip portion thus comprises a lower u-shaped surface and an upper arcuate surface disposed along its length. The tapered grip portion further comprises a lower surface having a u-shaped cross section and an upper surface having an arcuate cross section. Each of the u-shaped surface and the arcuate surface on the tapered grip portion are tapered towards the hole disposed at the distal end of the grip, wherein the center of the bore is disposed along a line segment drawn from the lowermost point on the u-shaped contour to the uppermost point on the arcuate contour at a point which is between about 50% and 480% of the total distance from the lowermost point on the u-shaped contour to the uppermost point on the arcuate contour, and is most preferably about 65% of the total distance from the lowermost point on the u-shaped contour to the uppermost point on the arcuate contour.
The invention also provides a process for a person to putt a golf ball comprising the steps of: a) providing a golf putter comprising the above-described grip; b) grasping the grip in such fashion that each of the thumbs of the person are arranged in adjacently to one another in such fashion that the thumbprints of the person are contacting the upper main grip surface and wherein the grip is disposed between the persons palms; c) swinging the putter; and d) striking the golf ball.